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as someone who knows nothing about photography, doesn't this stuff kind of cheapen it? i mean basically anyone who has photoshop can be a photographer now, and none of the difficulty in creating pretty things in the days before computers is there

I agree with the above posts, plus, keep this in mind (not my quote, I'm paraphrasing):

There are more good photographs being taken than ever before.
There are more bad photographs being taken than ever before.

 

[Dabookerman]

BEFORE

AFTER

Spoiler

I'm surprised no one's done this yet haha

Awesome thread btw, keep it up

 

[dark_chris]

AFTER

Spoiler

I'm surprised no one's done this yet haha

Awesome thread btw, keep it up

Isn't it supposed to be "MEET hot girls..."
lol

 

[Dabookerman]

Isn't it supposed to be "MEET hot girls..."
lol

That's the joke!

 

[dark_chris]

That's the joke!

YOU SUCK McBAIN

 

[dark_chris]

Found these old pics I took in high school the other day. So since I have no access to a scanner I just took pictures of them and then cleaned them up a bit.

I liked the fixes you made. I was inspired to do the same.

Before

After

Before

After

And two other edits I did, not much of a difference...
Before

After

Just changed it to black and white, higher brightness and burned the background

Before

After

Made the color more realistic in how I saw it. Fixed color, brightness, and contrast a bit.

This thread is great. You guys do a great job in post processing.

 

[b.e.r.g]

Wonderful work. Not only are the colors more natural, their also a lot warmer, which I personally prefer. Also, <3 strategically black underwear.

Here's a "Diana camera" -effect just for fun:

Before:

After:

 

[mik]

This one was an attempt to recreate a cheesy, retro portrait...

Or was it just an excuse to break out the lens flare? LENS FLARE!

 

[ScientificNinja]

I had waaaay too much time on my hands to play with, though not enough to try making the shadows more consistent.

 

[tsurugi no mai]

Wonderful work. Not only are the colors more natural, their also a lot warmer, which I personally prefer. Also, <3 strategically black underwear.

Here's a "Diana camera" -effect just for fun:

How'd you do that?

 

[samusx]

Here you go man. I took your photo a few steps more and made it usable. I hope its good for you.

Your before and my after.

 

[ymmv]

Here you go man. I took your photo a few steps more and made it usable. I hope its good for you.

Your before and my after.

Far too much DNR. I don't think people looked like wax puppets in the past.

How about ...

 

[b.e.r.g]

How'd you do that?

Took some work, but it's rather easy. Too much typing, but I'll mail you the PSD if you're interested!

 

[Dreams-Visions]

why yes, I would.

 

[RefigeKru]

Took some work, but it's rather easy. Too much typing, but I'll mail you the PSD if you're interested!

Wouldn't mind one myself.

 

[b.e.r.g]

Just PM me your email addresses and I'll send it over

 

[aznpxdd]

Anyone wanna take a stab at this?

 

[b.e.r.g]

 

[AnkitT]

 

[N2_]

Might wanna blur out that license plate

 

[Why would you do that?]

I took this picture when I was in Central Park. I have a RAW of it, but Photoshop can't open my camera's RAWs. so I edited the JPG since I take my pictures RAW+JPG.

Before (resized from 3000x4000):

After (resized from 3000x4000):

My problem with it is that what I did is pretty similar to what Photoshop would do if I simply used auto levels... so I'm guessing that I'm just not being creative enough. Are there any hints for thinking outside of the box and doing something creative?

 

[BlueTsunami]

For me personally, I feel that there wasn't really that much color interest in the photo but the way the light is striking the back end is nice. So to emphasize this I did a B&W conversion (with Nik Silver Effex Pro).

I raised the contrast, lowered the brightness (so the back end pops some more) and raised the structure (so the texture on the ground comes out more), used a Green'ish filter at 50% to darken the rear lights a bit and added a slight blue tone to make the whites and blacks cleaner.

 

[aznpxdd]

Might wanna blur out that license plate

Nah, not paranoid.

 

[mik]

I love that--but it's a shame to lose all the detail in the wheels. I'd try to sneak in just a pinch more, perhaps.

 

[BlueTsunami]

I love that--but it's a shame to lose all the detail in the wheels. I'd try to sneak in just a pinch more, perhaps.

Sheeit! I was actually thinking about leveraging the wheel detail with the highlights but forewent that path. Looking at it with the shadow detail, I definitely prefer it that way too.

 

[kIdMuScLe]

Before:

After:

 

[kIdMuScLe]

 

[ScientificNinja]

 

[MedHead]

Here are a few examples of my recent adjustments in Photoshop:

Example 1: My avatar picture.
Example 2: Doors in Gyeongbokgung, Seoul, South Korea.
Example 3: Gyeonghoeru in Gyeongbokgung, Seoul, South Korea.

 

[Fireye]

After (resized from 3000x4000):

My problem with it is that what I did is pretty similar to what Photoshop would do if I simply used auto levels... so I'm guessing that I'm just not being creative enough. Are there any hints for thinking outside of the box and doing something creative?

The first thing I would do is, crop out the water up to the birds (boueys?) on the left hand side. The water is pretty, but it dominates your picture.

... now, if you were to do the picture over again, what you COULD do, is use a large-stop ND filter (3+stops), and have a really long exposure, to try and get a good reflection of the two large towers. You get a hint of reflection in your image, but because there's so much detail in the waves, the effect is lost.

 

[mik]

Cropping could help it, but I think I'd do the opposite of the way you're proposing. The water does dominate the image--but the water (well, specifically the reflection) is the image. So I'd try an extremely vertical crop that would reinforce the long reflection of the building in the water.

 

[MedHead]

Are there any hints for thinking outside of the box and doing something creative?

I suppose things could be done with the shot, but I think it stands on its own:

Apologies if the contrast is heavy. I'm using my work PC and it has an awful set of monitors attached to it.

EDIT: Got back to my computer at home, and I think apologies are in order.

 

[Hatredcopter]

I took this picture when I was in Central Park. I have a RAW of it, but Photoshop can't open my camera's RAWs. so I edited the JPG since I take my pictures RAW+JPG.

Before (resized from 3000x4000):
http://i49.tinypic.com/n5fxac.jpg

After (resized from 3000x4000):
http://i48.tinypic.com/ve9nbo.jpg

My problem with it is that what I did is pretty similar to what Photoshop would do if I simply used auto levels... so I'm guessing that I'm just not being creative enough. Are there any hints for thinking outside of the box and doing something creative?

In my opinion the photo is too "water heavy." Cropping the bottom a bit would present better balance. That's just the way I'd like to look at it though.

 

[b.e.r.g]

Since we're on the subject I'd also have to recommend polarizer filters (CPL) for every new SLR owner. Especially if you like to take nature and people photos outdoors in the summer sun.

Without polarization:

With polarization:

(Both are right out of the camera)

Basically they remove reflections from non-metal surfaces, which really do miracles to shrubbery and clouds! Easy to use, but can be a little expensive. I use Hoyas Pro1D CPL, but there are probably more affordable alternatives.

 

[MedHead]

Yes, polarizers are pretty awesome! They work well on window and water reflections, too. I suppose that's an obvious statement, since neither windows or water are metal surfaces, but I wanted to point it out anyway.

A neat trick with polarizer use:

Polarization is most effective at 90 degrees to the sun. This means that the subject that you are shooting will display maximum polarization at right angles to the sun's position. At 180 degrees, in other words with the sun right behind you, polarization is almost non-existent.

An old trick for visualizing the maximum angle is to turn your index finger into a gun (like when you were a child), with your thumb pointing upward. Make as if to shoot the sun with your finger and your thumb will point toward where polarization is at its most extreme. Remember though that this isn't just at one angle. Rotate your wrist through 180 degrees (if you can), because the entire circle around the sun is equally polarized.​

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/polarizers.shtml

 

[carpediemdp]

Here's a pic i took a while ago

BEFORE

AFTER

 

[J Tourettes]

tagging thread as I'm going to need to learn some PP skills and there seems to be a few helpful tips here.

 

[Pepto]

Before:

After:

 

[Erebus]

I love this thread but I'd rather you guys described what adjustments you do every time (like BlueTsunami) so that everyone can pick up a few tricks from the pros.

 

[brerwolfe]

Image of SMB masked onto the glasses and blended, with Hue / Saturation.

the SMB images should be reversed... unless he's looking at them in a mirror already.

 

[sneaky77]

So most of my originals until now have been jpgs, but I do want to try shooting RAW, I use lightroom 3 for my photos, what is you guys workflow usually? Take the RAW file straight to lightroom as DNG and edit from there? Or use the camera software to process? What format should I store RAW files to process?
Do you guys have some kind of beginning setting you use to apply to all the photos, and then take it from there?

Thanks.

 

[captive]

So most of my originals until now have been jpgs, but I do want to try shooting RAW, I use lightroom 3 for my photos, what is you guys workflow usually? Take the RAW file straight to lightroom as DNG and edit from there? Or use the camera software to process? What format should I store RAW files to process?
Do you guys have some kind of beginning setting you use to apply to all the photos, and then take it from there?

Thanks.

i go straight from camera to Lightroom using RAW and then i either do a direct positive or an auto tone and then work from there whether i like it or not, or if its too dark, too saturated or the white balance is off.

 

[rass]

So most of my originals until now have been jpgs, but I do want to try shooting RAW, I use lightroom 3 for my photos, what is you guys workflow usually? Take the RAW file straight to lightroom as DNG and edit from there? Or use the camera software to process? What format should I store RAW files to process?
Do you guys have some kind of beginning setting you use to apply to all the photos, and then take it from there?

Thanks.

note: I haven't actually posted anything in here yet

• use photo mechanic to import/rename/keyword/organise
• open the DNGs in lightroom 3 [only a week left in my demo ]
• do all my batch colour corrections (this will be so much easier when I get my colourchecker passport)
• open in photoshop for major corrections/high end retouch/face work (if necessary)
• tweak in lightroom, I haven't tried the presets though. I use nik silver efex pro for black and white.

I used to just go straight to lightroom, but photo mechanic is just so good for ingesting shots and keywording that I had to buy it.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

I assume most of you are using Photoshop, but those who aren't... what are you using? Mac-only software need not apply, either.

Spoiler

I probably ruled 98% of people out, haven't I?

 

[Pepto]

I have a Nikon so I use Capture NX.

 

[ThatObviousUser]

You guys might be on to something... some quick and dirty first attempts:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

I wanted to get some good sunrise pics this morning but I was blocked by a bunch of trees. So I figured I give it the best shot I could in Picasa and see how it came out. I'm content with the results. <3 I usually do prefer the real thing, but sometimes a camera just doesn't capture what you're seeing.

I have a Nikon so I use Capture NX.

I try not using the bundle software as much as possible, just from past experiences.

 

[Mik2121]

...

smh @ all the people that thinks that photo manipulation = increasing the contrast all the way up. The lack of sense and class when editing photos around here is stunning.

(There are some photos that look pretty good, though)

 

[Always-honest]

...

smh @ all the people that thinks that photo manipulation = increasing the contrast all the way up. The lack of sense and class when editing photos around here is stunning.

(There are some photos that look pretty good, though)

have to agree, but you gotta start somewhere. But these kind of comments should also help.
Some of the images are completely over saturated. And no, black and white is not a magic touch that will make every photo look great all of a sudden.

 

[Mik2121]

What I did:

* Find a photo (if it's been post-processed like mine, even better!)
* Copy layer
* Set copied layer to Overlay and leave at 100% just because.
* Merge both layers

* Copy layer
* Change curves on copied layer (red channel up, blue channel down)

* Create new layer in black and set it to Soft Light
* Add lens flares somewhere randomly
* Merge the three layers
* Give it some sharpen more even if it breaks the image (more)
* Change curves so the shadows are blue and hip
* Add cool watermark

How is that for some photo post processing!
Man I'm so cool.

 

[Pepto]

I try not using the bundle software as much as possible, just from past experiences.

Capture NX gives far better colours than Photoshop.